Population growth in Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Population growth in Mexico - Essay Example Mexico is primarily a middle-income nation and its economy is predominately linked with the economy of the United States of America. The country has shown rigorous improvement in its economic performance in the recent years. Furthermore the country is rich in mineral resources and other natural resources (The World Bank, 2013). Population Growth Rate of Mexico Mexico is one of the densely populated countries in the world. The population of the country has shown an increasing trend in the past years. From 1930 to 2000 the percentage population rise of the country was around 3.75%. However, since 1970 the population growth rate of the country is falling constantly. The fall in the population growth rate has been widely attributed to the declining fertility within the country. .. Figure: 1 below will provide a clear representation of the s (Tuiran, Partida, Mojarro & Zuniga, n.d.). Figure 1: Population Growth Pattern of Mexico (Tuiran, Partida, Mojarro & Zuniga, n.d.) Various survey res ults showed that the population of Mexico had been tripled since the year 1960’s. However, the population growth rate of the country in the recent years i.e. in between 2000 to 2012 is comparatively low to previous decade. The population growth rate in between 2000 is 1.4% which is quite lower in comparison to last two decades. The population augmentation rate of the last 10 years of Mexico is given below in figure 2 (Trading Economics, n.d.). Figure 2: Population Growth Rate (Trading Economics, n.d.) Despite the fall in the population growth rate, constant increase in population can be seen. The population of the country was around 101.02 million which has increased to 116.9 million in the current year (2013). This shows that the population of Mexico is continued to rise considerably over the years. The rise in the population of the country is illustrated below in the figure: 3. Figure 3: Comparative Population Growth of the Last Ten Years (Trading Economics, 2013) It is kno wn that rise or fall in growth of population is directly dependent on various factors which comprise of death rate, birth rate, fertility rate, and infant mortality and migration patterns among others. In general decrease in death rate and increase in birth rate is among the primary reason for the rapid growth of population in various countries of the world. Apart from rise in population is also quite related to migration patterns. Now-a-days, people travel from one place to another in search of their livelihood and gets settle to other country resulting in rise in population of that country. Similarly, fertility and infant mortality rate has high impacts on the rise and the fall of population of a country (Dettman, 2007). It has been analysed that the death rate of Mexico in the recent years has dropped considerably. Correspondingly, the death rate in the country was around 5.05 per thousand of the population in the year 2000 while in 2012 the rate seen a marginal decline with 4.9 per thousand of the population. This has been illustrated below in figure 4. Figure 4: Death Rate (Index Mundi, n.d.) Similarly, the birth rate of the country also shows a declining rate over the years. It has been observed that the birth rate of the country in the year 2000 was approximately 23.1 per thousand populations which have fallen to 18.8 per thousand populations in the year 2012. It can be observed that both the death rate as well as the birth rate shows decline from the past years. Figure 5: Birth Rate (Index Mundi, n.d.) Apart from these factors, it has also been learnt that infant mortality rate in Mexico is declining up to a larger extent. In 2000, the infant mortality rate of Mexico was recorded as 26.1 per thousand live births which fall to 16.7

Customer behavior summary about social media Essay

Customer behavior summary about social media - Essay Example We will therefore focus on these level of needs and how marketers can use them to their advantage. First are the physiological needs which are basically biological needs such as food, water, oxygen and shelter. Of all the needs, the physiological needs are the most important and basic and therefore, they should be satisfied first. In the social network sphere, the marketers can satisfy the customers’ physiological needs by finding out the information concerning nutrition and medicine of their existing and potential customers. The second level is composed of the safety or security needs which become active only after the physiological needs have been met. Whereas adults have usually little awareness of their safety needs apart from periods of emergency, children usually show signs of insecurity thereby prompting the need to be safe. Individuals can use social networks to update their status and inform security firms such as police and other authority of any insecurity or emergency. By doing this, the individuals’ safety needs are met appropriately. Thirdly, the needs of Love, affection and belongingness enables individuals to overcome the feelings of isolation and loneliness. These needs therefore comprises of both showing and receiving love and affection from others which one to have a sense of belonging. Through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, people are able to share love by commenting on statuses, liking pictures and even engaging in online dating. This actions reduces or eliminates the feeling of loneliness and alienation thus enabling them to attain the needs of love, affection and belongingness. Comparatively, after the first three needs have been met, an individual develops the needs for esteem which involve self-esteem and esteem for others. In this segment, an individual tends to have a high level of self-respect and therefore desires to have respect from others too. Through the social networking

Economic and monetary union

Economic and monetary union Identify and discuss the costs and benefits of joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Thesis Statement The Economic Monetary Union has been the centre of prolonged debates as to whether a country joining it will either create benefits or drawbacks. During the course of this analytical report, both costs and benefits will be identified and explained in order to judicate the feasibility of joining the EMU and a specific country will be chosen to illustrate this further. Introduction To understand the concept behind the creation of the Economic Monetary Union, the overall objective of the European Union must firstly be understood. Since the end of the World War II, European political forces have been attempting to unite forces in order to escape the extreme forces of nationalism which were seen as unsustainable. Industries were evolving and beginning to compete globally, international trade throughout the globe expanded at an exponential rate and some felt it had to be regulated in order to maximise the gains achievabe. As a result, the European Union was set up in 1993 with X. Its primary principles are of a single market with no barriers to trade in goods and services or to capital and labour movements, competition and social policies, co-ordinated macroeconomic policy and a harmonised fiscal policy. In order to regulate these aspects effectively the EU set up a body named the Economic Monetary Union. This was seen as potentially a contender to the widely trade d and valued US dollar and as the solution to deepening the integration of the European Union. The EMU is characterised by the following policies, policy harmonisation to remove barriers to improve mobility, a common monetary policy which states there is one interest rate and exchange rate policy determined by the Central Bank, fixed exchange rates via the single currency and the pooling of foreign exchange reserves. The evolution of the EMU began in the late 1980s and was characterised by three stages set out by the Delors Report in 1993. The first stage was devoted to ensuring all member states participation in the Exchange Rate Mechanism and improved policy co-ordination and the removal of barriers to capital flows. The second stage consisted of the creation of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) and central banks becoming independent from their national governments (January 1994). Finally the last stage involved fixing the participating currencies and creating the European System of Central Banks which takes over the responsibility for monetary and exchange rate policies and finally the Stability and Growth pact came into force by January of 1999 to ensure member states that do not comply to the EMU principles are fined or sanctioned. During this evolution in 1992 twelve countries signed the Maastricht Treaty, which fundamentally was the root of the introduction of the Euro. During 1992 and 1997 the convergence criteria was set out which stated that in order for a country to join it must have a low and stable inflation, stable exchange rates and stable public finances and by 1999 the countries officially joined the EMU. However as the Euro could not be introduced overnight, there was a transition period in order to allow the member states to adapt to the new currency and after three years, by 2002, the euro was officially the single currency for all European union member states. Initially the transition period was considered a triumph by European Union members, but as individuals (mainly economists) observed the evolution, many critics are still debating whether joining the EMU and endorsing the euro brings success or just adds to the ever amounting issues each member states are already experiencing. This topic will be thoroughly explored throughout the course of this analytical report and a balanced argument will be drawn from the information available as to whether the EMU carries with it primarily, benefits or costs to a member state joining. The Economic Monetary Union is considered to be one of the major steps in integrating a before divided Europe, as people and businesses could begin moving and trading freely as trade barriers were removed, the currency becomes more stable, financial markets are integrated, the cost of exchanging currencies was eliminated, transaction costs reduced and theoretically increased competition between countries which is a driving factor in keeping prices low and productivity high which is both favourable for consumers and businesses. These benefits must be more deeply explored in order to comprehend the extent to which they have aided success or deepened the intricate network in Europe. The success of the EMU has been difficult to quantify as its revolutionary principles have only been recently enforced, however the theoretical benefits are supposed to be more easily identifiable in the long run as more member states join and European integration is extended to particularly the eastern European community. Debra Johnson and Colin Turner state that one of the major benefits, the elimination of transaction costs in intra-EU trade, have only saved 0.5% of the EUs GDP and that SMEs which predominantly serve local markets, will not benefit extensively from this. However as successful SMEs usually have high exports they can expect a favourable return from the introduction of the Euro. The EMU is also responsible for the lowering of interest rates. Various studies suggest that decentralised fiscal policies cause a bias in inflation and public spending (Sibert 1992, Levine 1993, and Levine and Brociner 1994) and therefore are in favour of the co-ordinated fiscal policies in a monetary union. The single European market can bring numerous benefits to a joining country such as the price transparency. It is still considered too early to quantify precisely the degree to which it has helped and many argue that the EMU must speed up the price convergence through enabling consumers to compare prices across member states more easily. This in turn could facilitate a lowering or raising in in labour costs and could change supply patterns resulting in a more stabilised and fair souricng of resources for firms and possibly improve equality throughtout the European union. These benefits are possibly achievable but have not yet been completely achieved as these processes take time and co-operation and some believe these are not present in todays European society as the recession has caused political and financial instability. The EMU has the potential to create extraordinary gains for the member states but these will not be visible or quantifiable in the near future as it is a timely process of evolution, this therefore poses a risk of not only time consumption but also of resources both nationally and individually and along with the few drawbacks of joining the EMU, critics believe the EMU is not the optimum choice for certain countries in Europe. The drawbacks of joining the EMU are considered to not outweigh the benefits by the majority of observers but still must be considered thoroughly before joining a revolutionary body which causes a country to enter a short-term of deflation, the loss of the exchange rate tool which is considered a tool of national economic policy, the potential problems related to a lack of ‘real convergence and potential policy conflicts and finally the inappropriateness of one monetary policy for many states. These will be analysed and explored in order to conclude whether these outweigh the benefits even considering the majority of parties disagree. The main risk of joining the EMU is the differences in trade cycles between countries, this is one of the core reasons as to why the UK is yet to join. European countries have differing economic statuses and languages, which fundamentally are essential in permitting countries to maximise the gains achievable from a single currency. It is therefore argued that more attention needs to be given to how economies can enhance their factor mobility to balance out the differences found in differing countries. Cohesion funds are the possible solution to the problem but today there are still great differences across the member states in terms of economic performance and labour mobility. This raises the legitimate question whether one monetary policy can fit all member states. The globe today is experiencing an economic recession which is highlighted one of the major issues with joiing the Economic Monetary Union as governments from member states are obliged through the stability and growth pact to keep to the Maastricht criteria meaning they cannot regulate or alter fiscal and monetary policies in order to alleviate the problems arising from a receeding economy. Countries would not be able to devalue to boost exports, to borrow more to boost job creation or to decrease taxes because of the public deficit criterion. The most debated issue with joining the economic monetary union is the loss of national sovereignty. This would result in more established and developed states having to co-operate with the less stable and strong economic countries which are more tolerant to higher infation rates. Finally, the last drawback of joining the EMU is the initial cost of introducing the single currency. This issue is mainly debated in the UK as the British Retailing Consortium estimated that British retailers will have to pay between  £1.7 billion and  £3.5 billion in order for the Euro to be introduced. However it is argued that the one off cost does not outweigh the long-term benefits obtainable from the policies and regulation and that if more countries join the EMU these benefits will be amplified even further. Robert Mundell and Abba Lerner(1960s) believed in a currency area. This is a group of countries that maintain their separate currencies but fix the exchange rates between themselves permanently (Nello, 2009:205). The optimal currency region (OCR) is the idealistic view that an entire region sharing a single currency can benefit extensively the efficiency of the member states economies. It states the optimal characteristics needed for a successful economic integration to occur. These are optimal labour mobility across the region, openness with capital mobility and price and wage flexibility across the region and an automatic fiscal transfer mechanism to redistribute money to areas/sectors which have been negatively affected by the first two characteristics. Supportive Evidence The UK has the worlds fourth largest economy and the EUs second largest and is consequently one of the primary targets of speculation as to whether the benefits outweigh the costs of joining the EMU. In 1999, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown said that although the government supported the principle of a single currency, Britain would not join. This decision was based on various factors that could have caused rifts in the country. In terms of trade it was seens as unfeasible to join because the UK has the lowest level of intra-EU trade and therefore is more vulnerable to fluctuations in external countries. The UK is vulnerable compared to the rest of the EU counties to potential unfavourable interest rates set by the Central Bank because it has one of the highest percentages of home owners potentially leaving British mortgage holders in a state of crisis. Another characteristic that lead the UK to not favour the joining of the EMU is its position as an oil producer and ex porter meaning it is harshly affected by changes in oil prices, however as the quantity of oil diminuishes at an ever expanding rate and the gradual transition to more sustainable energy resources means that this is not as important as it was when the EMU was introduced a decage ago. These issues are feasible arguments to the absence of the UK in joining the EMU however as the countries that have joined the EMU continue to attract foreign direct investments, the UK has been threatened by foreign investors that the Eurozone is becoming a more attractive zone to trade with because of its increased stability. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released information on the World Investment Report in the form of a bar graph clearly illustrating the downward trend of inward FDI of the UK compared to the general upward trend of the countries with the EMU. As clearly illustrated by figure 1.0, the UK continued to attract FDI from 1992 until 2000, where it increased five-fold from 20 billion in 1992-1997 to almost 120 billion U.S dollars in 2000. However by 2003 this figure drastically fell to below 20 billion, which was less that it was almost ten years before. Whilst France, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland all either increased or stabilised by 2000 and resumed until 2003. This is further evidence that the UK should consider joining the EMU, in order to guarantee long-term success. As more countries join, currently 26 today, the EMU is ever closer to achieving an optimal currency area (Mundell, 1973) creating, idealistically speaking, a perfectly harmonized economy and resulting in countries flourishing. Conclusion In a perfect world, the EMUs potential benefits would be endless but due to unforeseeable fluctuations in economies, labour mobility, and personal matters it is difficult to quantify the benefits and costs of joining the EMU. Especially with the recent economic downturn the risk of joining the EMU has been even more re-considered by certain countries especially the U.K. However these drawbacks are limited and do not outweigh the vast benefits achievable from embracing a single currency and single European market as it would guarantee to a certain extent the long-term success of a country as harmonization and stabilisation will cause consumers to be given better prices and businesses to trade more efficiently creating a, arguably, more competent country. Establishment of the Maastricht Treaty which was signed by twelve countries in 1992, which set out the convergence criteria, ultimat The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 established a single currency, the euro, and on January 1st 2002, the EMU began using the euro.The EMU was created in 1992 It has stringent conditions and objectives which countries have to meet via signing the Maastricht Treaty. With joining the EMU, the euro must be endorsed and therefore the monetary policies become the responsibility of the European Central Bank and national central banks of member states. Essentially they are co-ordinating the monetary and fiscal aspects of the member countries. Sovereignty

The Chosen Essay -- English Literature Essays

The Chosen Inflective and Forward Personalities In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, two contrasting characters are introduced—Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. They are opposites. While Reuven is forward—speaking his mind, Danny Saunders shows a stark contrast—an inflective soul, listening to silence, and growing from it. These characters set the stage for a lasting relationship to form, to be strengthened, and to be stressed. Danny’s father’s name is Reb Saunders. The tzaddik of a small community within close proximity of Reuven’s home, he was born in Russia and later brought his congregation to America. When Danny is speaking to Reuven, he tells him the story of this occurrence. â€Å"They bribed their way though Russia, Austria, France, Belgium, and England. Five months later, they arrived in New York City.† This was the original catalyst for the relationship between Reuven and Danny. If Reb hadn’t brought his congregation to America, ever, Danny and Reuven would not have met in anything close to the same circumstances. When introducing the reader to the novel, Reuven explains why the inter-parish softball leagues were formed by the Jewish parochial schools after World War II. â€Å"†¦America’s entry into the Second World War and the desire this bred on the part of some English teachers in the Jewish parochial schools to show the gentile world that yeshiva students were as physically fit, despite there long hours of study, as any other American student. They went about probing this by organizing the Jewish parochial schools in and around our area into competitive leagues, and once every two weeks the schools would compete against one another in a variety of sports.† This was the second factor in the friendship. It would be unlikely for the matter of a soft-ball league to be considered on the part of Reb Saunders if he had not seen any particular reason. On Danny’s second visit to the hospital, Danny and Reuven talk about matters of common interest. While on the topic of the baseball game, Reuven asks how he learned to hit a ball. â€Å"‘I practiced,’ he said. ‘You don’t know how many hours I spent learning how to field and hit a baseball.’† After this statement is avowed, Danny makes the comment to Reuven that he could have ducked the ball. Reuven responds with: â€Å"I remembered the fraction of a second when I had brought my glove up in front of my... ...arefully of what you will say. Think what your father’s questions will be. Think what he will be most concerned about†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  When David persistently asks Danny questions as Danny half-answers, anxiety is created as the significance of the questions is revealed. All of these factors put stress on the relationship, initially, and in the end strengthened it. The first mentioned, was the difference between Danny and Reuven’s religions. Although they were both Jewish, the novel shows that there were perceptible differences. The next mentioned was Reuven’s inability to understand â€Å"listening to silence†. Although Reuven may not have seen significance, Danny found silence to be very important, even related to wisdom. The final stressor mentioned was David’s methodological questioning of Danny at the end of the novel. It created tension in an already stressful situation, although helpful. Danny and Reuven’s friendship built throughout The Chosen had the roots to last a lifetime. It was apparent that Danny originally needed a friend and Reuven turned out to be the right one. Also, their fathers recognized this lasting friendship. So, each would most likely encourage it in the future.

Fall of the House of Usher: The Mind’s Eye Essay

Edgar Allen Poe’s work Fall of the House of Usher has long been regarded as a fine example of his many psychological writings. Largely, the criticism has focused on the interactions between characters, the doubleness factors seen in the twins, and even the structure of the house itself. I find a worthy psychology to analyze within a different ‘viewpoint’, if you will: the eyes and visions of the characters. My thesis is simple. Despite the numerous references to vision and eyes within Fall of the House of Usher, Poe is showing that none of these characters is able to see through to the mind of others. The easiest way to examine this idea is to take out from this relatively short story the different incidences of sight related imagery. Then they can be looked into with more clarity and observed for consistency. Together these points all aim in one direction. The persons of the narrator and Usher are unable to capably read each other’s minds despite looking deeply into them. If eyes are truly the windows to the soul, as the popular saying goes, then psychoanalytic theories would seem to infer that a sense of ‘genuineness’ would be able to be gleaned by observing another (Hutchisson). This clue pops up immediately within the story. Not once, but twice within the very first paragraph, the narrator uses his eyes to assess the situation. He is clearly not comfortable with the summons that he has received and wants to get an idea of what it is that he is getting at. And so he uses his eyes to discern the setting. What he finds is not comforting at all! He finds that not only are his eyes looking at the house, and trying to look into the house, but that the house appears to be looking right back at him. The windows are â€Å"eye like. † And again, the windows aren’t merely eye-like once, but twice within the opening. The narrator can’t look into the house, can’t see what it is that might be going on. And so he can’t look into the house’s mind, psychoanalytically speaking. But we do know that Roderick Usher wants to have him visit. In fact, we read that his old friend wants to â€Å"see† him. A peculiar choice of wording for a visit. This is the state of mind of the narrator as he approaches the mansion. He doesn’t get far. By the second paragraph, the he stops his approach, feeling that there must in fact be something wrong, something to observe. He now uses his eyes to look up and down for clues. First he looks down into the tarn, or bog. Again, it is clear that he is trying to size up the feelings around him, not just the topography. It is not enough for him to see that the bog exists; he must instead attempt to look into it. This is a very psychologically indicative statement. Why take such care as to look into the tarn, to try and find out what is in it? Why not just a subtle and quick glance? After looking down (without success) he then lifts his eyes up to the house once more. Perhaps the windows had unnerved him by this point, for it is not the windows he looks for this time around. Now he is trying to look even closer. He is attempting to see more of the soul of the house, trying to find any deficiencies that may warn him of the mind of the mansion, and perhaps its owner. He does find a startling detail. The fissure. The very small fissure. We read that the narrator is not just browsing. He possess the â€Å"eye of a scrutinizing observer† – which is what it takes to see this â€Å"minute fissure. † This exterior crack is the indication that should have warned of the inner workings of his setting, the inner deviance of the mind (Quinn and Rosenheim). But it is not enough to dissuade him, yet. When he finally does enter the mansion, we encounter Roderick Usher for the first time. What is important here, psychologically speaking, is that this is an old friend of the narrator. He is not just meeting him for the first time, as are the readers. And how does one meet an old friend, a long lost friend who has personally summoned you? I would dare say that it would be warmer than merely gazing upon him. Yet that is exactly, according to the text, how he greets Usher. He gazed upon him, it reads. He does not come right up to him; he does not extend his hand, or otherwise greet him. Clearly he is attempting to size up Usher’s intentions, his inner psyche. He doubts Usher’s intentions. That much is clear. He has had a chance to doubt the setting, the feel of the house. And so he gazes at him. He is trying to look into the soul of his friend – according to the old expression. What does he find? This is where the psychology really begins to work itself into the narrative. Despite the pallor of his friend’s skin, the almost withdrawn, deathly body, he finds that Roderick possesses â€Å"an eye large liquid and luminous. † Is this truly so? Does anyone possess eyes of this quality? Especially intriguing is the question, does anyone who is near death possess this sort of an eye? Or is the narrator only imagining this? Is he imagining that as he himself is looking for the mind of Usher, that he is also being scrutinized simultaneously? Are they feeling each other out, and attempting to discern where the other stands? If this were true, then it would be expected that one or the other would surely figure out that they are in some sort of deep, dysfunctional disadvantage (Silverman)! Looking forward, where we know the motives of the two, isn’t it likely that they should have sorted this out? Could not Usher sense his friend’s apprehension? Could the narrator not discern the evil lurking behind the eyes of Usher? Apparently they could not, for both continue along the storyline. The psychoanalysis that we are privy to failed both of them. Soon during the first encounter we begin to find out that there is actually something wrong with the dweller of the house. But we are not fed the correct information. The text concentrates on the purely physical elements of sickness! We, as readers, can already tell that there is much more to this problem. We do not trust Roderick Usher and already feel uneasy, given the facts that I have already stated above. They psychology is one of mistrust, of looking out, looking in and getting looked at. But we are beginning to find out that the narrator is not able to see what we are. Despite the ever present commentary on seeing, looking, gazing and eyes, he is not able to pick out the danger. Instead, he relates the physical problems facing his friend. Ironically, the physical problems are just as telling about the conditions he is to find. The problem begins with the eyes. Usher explains that his eyes are â€Å"tortured by even a faint light. † Torture is a pretty strong word. It speaks of endless suffering, of attempting to get something out of the victim by pain (Hutchisson). What is the light trying to do, what is it trying to accomplish? Light generally means truth, in literature. Is the light attempting to elicit some sense of truth, of purpose, of the inner workings of his mind? Is the light trying to open up Usher for introspection? It appears so. How does he react to this? He finds it to be â€Å"torture. † And so he keeps things dark. He is telling the narrator to not look at him. He does this without words, but the message is clear. I am not going to light any lanterns or candles, he is saying. And you, you are not going to look into my eyes, to discern me. He looks to his friend for agreement. Does his friend see this growing malevolence? No. He still cannot grasp this, is not able to ‘see’ his friend. And so the room is dark and the story goes on. We are beginning to see that he is trapped here. After some time, Usher reveals that he is here with the lady of the house, a sister. The lady Madeline makes one brief appearance, vaguely flowing through the room and out. Apart from the somewhat strange talk of her upcoming death – a death that is inevitable, Usher’s story indicates (though without admitting anything), what is stranger even more is that Madeline is not talked to, or invited to stay. Does Usher not want her seen? Is he afraid of his friend looking into her eyes and seeing something uncomfortable? Why is she simply left to go her way? Certainly the narrator attempts to do some fact finding. He attempts once more to determine the psychology of the situation by looking at her. But again, Poe makes it clear: he is not just looking at her. It is specifically his eyes that are doing the looking. He must bring the attention back to the eyes themselves (Silverman). The story reads, â€Å"My eyes followed her retreating steps. † In other words, it is as if the eyes are separate from the body. The eyes themselves followed her steps. They almost operate independently. It is as if the author is trying to tell you that the eyes belong to the psychological realm, as opposed to the rest of the body’s physical realm. Which is, of course, the purpose of bringing up the idea of the eyes in the first place. After some time, the narrator is beginning to get it. He is beginning to understand that there is a difference in this reality, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. All he knows is that there is something wrong with the appearances here. Again, he cannot see into the soul and inner mind of Usher. But he does point out what he is able to observe. He knows that Usher is different than he was. Something made Usher â€Å"what I now saw him. † He is changed. There is some purposeful line that had been drawn, and then crossed. What this is remains unclear to the narrator. He doesn’t ‘see’ what is coming, can’t discern just what the change is related to. And so all he relates it that he sees something different. Of course, this near miss indicates just how close he is to the truth. His observations find him dancing around the menacing intentions of his friend. He can sense a problem – but cannot see it. The problem, naturally, is that Roderick Usher is about to kill his twin sister. For some reason, which remains unexplained, he desires someone to be there with him until the end. But as we see, at the same time that he is trying to look into his old friend’s mind and find out if he is catching on or not, he is being observed too, for mental malady. Alas, both parties are failures at this. The psychology of both is hidden from the other. Usher is about to murder his sibling. The narrator cannot see this. The narrator is unnerved for a host of reasons. Usher cannot see this, either. They both remain blinded to the other’s minds. They both remain in the dark, even at this close moment. The moment comes. Madeline is dead. Or at least dead enough to bury. The blindness of the narrator keeps him from even being able to see life and death for what it is. He believes the report of Roderick – Roderick who has looked long into his eyes and found no serious concern or doubt as to his knowledge. He even goes so far as to help him to bury her. Together they carry her down to the tomb. He consoles his friend as they accomplish the deed. He is truly unseeing about this event, its morbidity, and its sheer wanton psychology. He simply cannot see through his fears. The narrator is unable to see with his mind’s eye. He does detect a change, though. Again, he is close. He does not engage Usher in discussion. They do not share stories of old friendship at any time. They hardly even discuss the death of Usher’s sister, who turns out to have been his twin. There is still this feeling out process. They are both engaged in attempting to psychoanalyze the other; to determine motive and perhaps opportunity or advantage. What does he find of his friend Usher? Now that luminous eye is going dim. Poe writes, â€Å"The luminousness of his (Usher’s) eye had utterly gone out. † Obviously, Usher’s friend is being watchful of him, so to speak. He is looking at his eyes. Is he trying to read his friend’s soul? I think he is. This has come directly after the death and internment of his sister. But he is not trying to comfort him. He has very few words at all for him in what should be his time of need. He is instead looking at him. He remembers the luminousness of the eye in particular. He remembers being watched and so he is being watchful. He now finds the eye has changed. Shouldn’t this indicate something to him? And yet he seems to be contented with the thought that it is merely indicative of the timing, representative of the situation that Usher has found himself in, a situation of sorrow. And how is Usher looking? If we know now that the luminousness, the mysterious gleam is gone, then what can we see? What is it that the narrator is looking at? Usher, it seems, is looking at â€Å"vacancy† now. In other words he is no longer interested in looking at his old friend. The deed is done. There is no longer any need to discern the internal workings of the mind, with its doubts, and intrigues. For whatever reason that Usher brought him out into the country mansion (a motivation that we are never quite certain of, as readers), that purpose has been fulfilled. No longer is Usher interested in looking at anything. Whatever had been going on in his mind is over. The psychological back and forth between the two is over. At least for one of them. The narrator is still looking. He is really beginning to feel something is out of place here. But there is no talking. Never any talking. The eyes are what are important to this work of Poe’s. It is all about the windows expressing, or hiding the inner psychology of the person. And so Usher looks down, but his friend still is looking at him, trying to find an edge that will reveal everything to him. He has found a dying, dimming eye in Usher. No longer is there the intrigue. For a few moments in this tale, we too, are beginning to wonder just what Usher’s intent is. Is he simply done with the work he set out to do? Is he content with the ending? Is he meaning the same thing to happen to his friend? We cannot see, like the narrator cannot, because Usher’s eye has lost its light. But then it springs back to life – and this time it is much more indicative of the inner workings. Usher’s madness now comes out. And Poe reveals it through his eyes. There is now a â€Å"species of mad hilarity in his eyes. † Finally the eyes are opened enough for the narrator to see into. The window to his soul, so to speak is now displaying the mind of his mad former friend. It is all coming into sharp focus. The doubts which had been fermenting are now finalizing. It is important to note something here. This has to do with the utter psychology of the work. Psychoanalytically speaking, we are led time and time again to the eyes. There is no sharp action here. Usher does not go on a screaming rampage. He does not threaten with his words, he does not cajole. There is no pleading and there is no physical threatening. All of the above, all of the feelings of morbidity and unease and fear, comes through the description of the eyes. And the description of Usher’s eyes comes from the narrator himself. He is finally able to see into Usher’s mind, but far, far, too late. When Poe relents, when he eventually allows Roderick Usher to speak his mind, to give voice to what his eyes have been clearly showing all along, it is utter confirmation. Usher’s friend realizes that he has been right all along. In this case, hindsight was correct. Usher’s words finally give tongue to the madness he possesses. But even then, even when there is confirmation of the dementia of this man, he is obsessed, the text is obsessed, with the eyes. â€Å"Have you not seen it? † he asks of his friend. â€Å"You have not then seen it? But stay! You shall! † He is challenging him here. He is somehow poking at him almost in jest. In some mad way Usher is taunting the man for not being able to have ‘seen it’ before. He chides him for not earlier seeing that his good old friend Roderick Usher had gone mad right before him. He runs over to the windows, which of course were eyes of the house, as earlier stated and opens them. They are â€Å"freely open to the storm. † This then, is to be understood that the eyes to the soul are now open for the first time. There is no more hiding them, no more hiding the truth. Since he has done what he wanted, what he planned, and managed to do so right under his friend’s eyes, he can reveal all finally. Now Usher’s intents, his malevolence and his mind are fully opened for his friend to see. Now he can grasp the mentality of Roderick Usher. This is the one thing that the narrator does not want to do. Now that the horrible situation has unfolded and he can clearly see what has been going on all along, he wishes it weren’t so. He wants it all to go away. He wants his eyes to be closed to this scenario, to the demented madness of Usher. We get this through the symbols of the eyes and vision once more. â€Å"You shall not behold this! † he encourages Usher. â€Å"You must not! † he orders him. He then attempts to close the casements. Why would this come up? What is the big problem with the open windows and the ensuing storm? Because Poe is telling us once more that the windows, the eyes, are where the truth shall be seen and known. If only the windows were shut again, the narrator is insisting. If only I could not see what has taken place. If I can just close my eyes I can get it to go away. He does not want to face the reality that he is now seeing for the first time. And so he doesn’t try to change Usher. He doesn’t attempt to engage him in conversation of otherwise challenge him. Instead he rushes to close the windows, to shut his eyes. It is too late. Now Usher too is blind. He has seen enough of the ugly truth. He has seen that he has pulled the wool over his friend’s eyes for just long enough. The actions have passed, and the results will invariably follow. The truth will be open for all to see. He does not care whether his ugliness is displayed now. When the narrator turns to look at him once more, he finds that Usher’s eyes were now â€Å"bent fixedly before him. † No longer do Usher’s eyes have to be looked into for one to ascertain the truth now. It is all around him. The narrator’s time for discovery has passed. In the end we find the narrator still attempting to make sense of all that he saw during his stay at the mansion. He doesn’t end up by pondering these things over. He does not soliloquize at all. We aren’t even treated to what is going on in his mind. We are instructed still by images – by displays of the truth itself. He turns to see where the final lights of the storms were coming from. Where was the truth all along? Why didn’t he see it earlier? With the collapse of the â€Å"mighty walls† the narrator finally sees the inner mind of truth as it â€Å"burst at once upon my sight. † What he and Usher could not see in each other’s minds end up as â€Å"walls rushing asunder. † Works Cited Hutchisson, James M. Poe. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2005. Poe, Edgar A. â€Å"Fall of the House of Usher. † Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. Ed. Benjamin F. Fisher. New York: Barnes and Nobles, 2009. Quinn, Arthur H. , and Shawn Rosenheim. Edgar Allen Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.

Blythebourne School Essay

Blythebourne School is a public school in Brooklyn, New York, that defies national averages for inner city schools and appeals to parents and students alike. The school is unique in its make-up, in terms of socio-economic factors and racial factors. The school is made up of a largely Asian and Pacific Islander community with more than 75 percent of students identifying with that racial classification. Another 10 percent each are Hispanic or Caucasian. There is less than 1 percent of the schools population that identifies itself as African-American. In addition, almost 90 percent of the children who attend the school receive free or reduced lunches, an indication that they are living at or near the poverty line. Further complicating things for the teachers and staff of Blythebourne is that more than 40 percent of their students have difficulty with the English language, indicating that many are not native English speakers. This school also has less than 3 percent of its population in individualized education plans, the programs formerly known as special education, to assist people with learning difficulties or special needs, including speech or hearing difficulties, etc. Testimonials about the school from students and teachers alike praise the school as a wonderful place to be with teachers that care. In addition, teachers at the school are more well-educated that their compatriots across the state. At the average New York school, 20 percent of the teachers hold only a bachelor’s degree. At Blythebourne, only 13 percent hold just a bachelor’s degree; 87 percent have a master’s degree. Most of the children at Blythebourne are of Chinese descent, first-generation immigrants, who speak English as a second language and yet they routinely meet and exceed state averages in test results. The school has become a charter school emphasizing programs for â€Å"Everyday Math† to make students more able to use math in practical terms. The school embraces the multi-cultural heritage and promotes it with typical grade school activities combined with Chinese language and history. As part of federal funding requirements through the No Child Left Behind Law, every public school has its yearly progress toward state-wide goals measured. The state sets a required percentage of students in all major groups and in all sub-groups that must exceed the base requirements of state achievement tests. If a school meets those requirements in all its groups combined, it is said to be making adequate yearly progress. School report cards indicate show whether the school is making their AYP (adequate yearly progress) in each of its sub-groups as well. In the case of Blythebourne, the sub-groups are based on gender, race, and socio-edonomic status. According to the school’s web page, Blythebourne is making AYP in all its sub-groups, an impressive task since most schools are not able to keep consistent results across the curriculum. The amazing thing about the Blythebourne School is that the results are averaging higher than statewide results even with children who may not have spoken a word of English before beginning school. Three-quarters of these same kids, by the time they reach third grade, are exceeding standards for English proficiency. Statewide, only 67 percent of third graders can exceed the standards. Equally impressive is that through all three grades tested, 95 percent of the students at Blythebourne school exceed the standards for math proficiency. That math proficiency is universal across the sub-groups and consistent, with almost no statistical difference between the three grades. In the spring of 2007, fourth grade students at the Blythebourne school were not as proficient as the class the previous year had been and fell short of the statewide standards, but only by a few percentage points. Perhaps of note is that the test results in English Language Arts fell dramatically in all three grade levels from 2006 to 2007. Proficiency fell from 90 percent to 76 percent in the third grade; 75 to 64 percent in fourth grade and 78 to 63 percent in the fifth grade. Statewide in fourth and fifth grade, proficiency was 68 percent. The reasons for the dramatic drop in results is unclear, but should be further explored. Parents who are contemplating enrolling their children in P. S. 105, otherwise known as Blythebourne, might want to further investigate these anomalies. According to other statistics, the other thing that may concern parents is the potential for overcrowding at the school. Current class loads indicate an average of 15 students per teacher, but because this is a public school and subject to whims of the school board and the ever-fluctuating population. However, there are equally valid reasons to seek out a school like Blythebourne. For example, the school has adapted to the cultural heritage of the majority of its students into its curriculum, allowing Chinese students to learn their new language without abandoning the heritage. Observers also say the school and its teachers work hard to actively involve students in the learning process, letting them actually observe ice melting as a way to understand â€Å"Cold† and often sacrificing administrative space to give as much room as possible to their students. The district has crushed more than 1,600 students into a building that was stressed with 1,200. Additional public schools have been opened nearby, but the constant immigration into the area leads the school to enroll students year-round. Another note in favor of the Blythebourne school is that students there actually attend school. As any teacher can attest, students can’t learn if they aren’t there. With a 95 percent attendance rate, students and parents in the Blythebourne school obviously make education enough of a priority that they get to class. By getting their children to school on a regular basis, parents with the school’s service area are showing their commitment to education. If that commitment follows through in terms of parental involvement in the school and follow through in their child’s education, then schools around the country would do well to learn from the Blythebourne example. Numerous schools cite lack of parental involvement and attendance issues as among the biggest problems they face. Based on the ranking system provided at one website, Blythebourne is in the top 20 percent of schools in New York. In that ranking, where 1 is the lowest and 100 is the best, Blythebourne ranked 81. For a public school with almost half of its students made up of recent immigrants, the ranking is phenomenal and any parent should be happy to have their child attend P. S. 105, Blythebourne School.

Literary Criticism of A Lesson Before Dying Essays

Literary Criticism of A Lesson Before Dying Essays Literary Criticism of A Lesson Before Dying Paper Literary Criticism of A Lesson Before Dying Paper Essay Topic: A Lesson Before Dying Thesis: The relationship that develops between Jefferson and Wiggins forms the emotional core of the novel. The force of A Lesson before Dying is a result of the dialogue that Gaines poignantly renders between the demoralized prisoner and the disheartened school teacher. Support Do you see anyone here who could plan a murder, a robbery, can plancan plancan plan anything? A cornered animal to strike quickly out of fear, a trait inherited from his ancestors in the deepest Jungle of blackest Africayes, yes, that he can dobut to plan? To plan, gentlemen of the Jury? No, gentlemen, this skull here holds no plans. What you see here is a thing that acts on command. A thing to hold the handle of a plow, a thing to load your bales of cotton, a thing to dig your ditches, to chop your wood, to pull your corn. That is what you see here, but you do not see anything capable of planning a robbery or a murder. (7-8) She is determined, in the months her godson has left to live, to convince him of his humanity: l dont want them to kill no hog, she [says]. l want a man to go to that chair, on his own two feet' (13). Only as a changed man, the text implies, can Wiggins himself become a catalyst for social equality through education. Gainess narrative also points to the role that language can assume in symbolic enslavement and in freedom. Jefferson is able to recognize his humanity through writing (Wiggins has provided him with a tablet and pencil). Freedom through literacy is a primary trope in the African American expressive tradition. Henry Louis Gates, in his vernacular theory The Signifying Monkey (1988), argues that the first inscription of this trope is found in African American slave arratives, wherein the slave wrote to demonstrate his or her own membership in the human community (Gates 128). Gaines signifies on this African American tradition, powerfully creating, through Jefferson, a countertext. It is through the act of writing that Jefferson is able to fulfill his godmothers wish that he die with dignity. With subtle prose that belies the complexity of the narrative, Gaines chronicles two mens Journey to self wortha symbolic transformation which encourages the reader to reconsider the qualities that characterize a hero embarrassing moment By robincccc

Mississippi Burning essays

Mississippi Burning essays When presenting movies based on historical facts, the writers, directors and studio executives that comprise Hollywood should be held accountable for its revisions to history within historical films. When presenting motion pictures based on historical facts, Hollywood should step up to the plate, examine the truths and summarize these truths in terms of maintaining historical accuracy. In the film Mississippi Burning, we get a sense of what it was like for struggling blacks in the Deep South but the question remains as to the accuracy and prevalence of the facts portrayed. In movies such as Mississippi Burning, JFK and Amistad, we are presented with situations that are based on historical events. The historical events are alluded to within the movie but the truth behind the film is rarely examined in a sociological aspect. We see half truths and misrepresentations, misinterpretations and blatant works of fiction and are lead to accept these tall tales as fact. As Hollywood, more and more, portrays historical facts intermingled with the idealistic visions of writers and directors, viewers have a need to become increasingly aware of the discrepancies between fact and fiction. The audience needs to arm themselves with the proper tools to decipher the story from the stuff in order to become a better educated and more discerning viewer. With a greater access to information and a greater desire to know the truth, Hollywood is finding it harder and harder to fleece the American public. While the great Westerns of the early days of Hollywood taught Americans how to think about the taming of a country and the gangster films taught us about the assimilation of immigrants into American society and the World War II epics taught us about the superiority of American individualism and democracy as compared to the ideologies of Europe, the mythical movies of the last twenty years in Hollywood has been of quite another kind. Hollywood has taken to te...

Your Offices Hot and Cold Temperatures

Your Offices Hot and Cold Temperatures Far too many office workers know the daily routine. The workplace either feels like you are in the middle of the blazing desert without a twig to stand under for shade or like you’re at the North Pole without an igloo to cut the icy wind. That’s because office temperatures are based on a 50-year-old formula that involved the resting temperature of a 40-year-old man who weighed 145 pounds. Working when you are uncomfortably hot or cold can be a challenge, but there are tips that can help you make it through the day and feel more comfortable.Layer Your ClothingIf you’re feeling like Bob Cratchit working for Ebenezer Scrooge, try layering your clothing to stay warm. Men already frequently do this by wearing a suit and adding a vest as an extra layer. Women often wear dresses to work, but if you wearing a pantsuit with an added vest, you can look chic and stay warmer. If you are still cold, bring a sweater and add an extra pair of socks and a wooly scarf.Get Somethin g to DrinkYou can help cool yourself down or warm yourself up by getting something to drink. Hot coffee, tea, or even a cup of soup can take away that frosty chill. When you’re feeling hot, opt for a drink with ice, cold fruit juice, or chunks of frozen fruit.Get Out of the OfficeStep out of the office for a few minutes to warm up or cool down if there are areas in the building where it is more comfortable. Just walking will warm you up some. Going out to lunch is another option, even if it’s just for a quick bite in a place with a more comfortable temperature. This gives you the ability to reenergize yourself for the rest of the day.Watch What Fabrics You WearYour choice of fabrics in a business environment can affect whether you feel too hot or cold indoors. When you feel too warm, wear breathable fabrics such as cotton, linen, or silk. The light weight and breathability lets the moisture evaporate from your skin faster because these fabrics allow better air circulat ion.Additional Options to Cool Down or Warm UpYou’ve changed your clothing and are sipping like mad on hot or cold drinks and it still isn’t enough, it’s time to go into emergency mode. If you are too hot, unplug all unnecessary equipment around you because those little machines put out heat. Unplug your lamp, too. Bringing in a small fan can be helpful to keep you cool. If the cold has you shivering, ask your boss if you can use a small space heater and get a pair of fingerless gloves for frosty hands.Sometimes you have to make small accommodations to work in a great job, and adaptability is also useful to find that perfect job. Using a job search site helps by doing the search for you. After you enter your qualifications and job interests, TheJobNetwork works around the clock to find matches for you and notifies you right away. That way, you don’t miss any opportunities and are able to be among the first in line to apply for the position. In addition, y ou can perform job searches on the platform yourself.Searching for the job you want was never easier. When you sign up for job match alert, you’re on your way to a new career.

Use Foucault's theory of the disciplinary society to analyse three Essay

Use Foucault's theory of the disciplinary society to analyse three examples of body discipline - Essay Example Foucault considers this physicality -such as pain, hunger, sorrow, joy, etc- a subject of politics and power. The idea, that body is an object that can be subjugated, threatened and tortured by the external forces and power, gives birth to the concept that body’s fear of torture and pain can be manipulated to grow body disciplines in accordance with the social disciplines. In fact, for Foucault, ‘body’ has always been in the center of the attention of any forms of power or authority because body is easily accessible and manageable by controlling its various organic needs, as referring to Foucault’s obsession with the physicality of human being, Peter Erlandson says, â€Å"Foucault stresses that as well as studying the body as a seat of ‘needs and appetites’ and other ‘biological events’ in the social sciences, the politics of the body also needs to be studied† (662-3). This paper will explore how Foucault’s social dis ciplinary theory explains the body disciplines. According to Foucault, discipline as one of the social constructs developed as a response to the increasing demand of the reformists to view the public or social body in power of the state. This concept of â€Å"the power of the public body† necessarily viewed an individual as a body that needs to be disciplined in accordance with the disciplines followed by the collective social body. But Foucault notes that the social body itself is a group of individual bodies that have internalized a set of acknowledged rules and regulations through a number of social disciplinary organizations. According to Holligan, the social institutions functions as â€Å"regimes whose purpose and success is predicated upon making bodies obedient and practically valuable within a particular social formation† (138). An individual that violates the social disciplines is viewed as a physical power or body that lacks the

Russia culture 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Russia culture 1 - Essay Example They mostly operate an autocratic management style whereby the leader has more power than committees. Their mode of communication in business is very formal. Russia has many ethnic groups, and each individual group has their form of music. Therefore, the culture has diverse music. Their traditional music was mainly ritual folk songs and the holy music of the Orthodox Church (Rickman, Mead, and Gorer 65). In the 19th century, they developed their music and were the founders of classical music. Their music has developed over time and has been characterized with improvement in use of musical instruments The Russians believe in respect for the old people and that failure to obey them results in misfortunes. The formal greetings for males are bone-crushing handshakes, and a soft handshake implies that one is unhappy. Eye contact is valued since it is a sign of honesty between the communicating parties. Women and girls kiss three times or can hug one another. Gift giving is highly appreciated, and it is a taboo to visit other people and fail to take to them gifts or presents. The Russians are very superstitious. They believe in the evil look and do not want unknown people commenting good things about their property. They believe that carrying empty buckets or cans is a sign of bad omen. They also believe that touching their money makes it unprofitable. Russians value wedding so much and the finances to be spent are only limited to the financial ability of the families. To them, it is a big occasion and would lead to lasting enmity if a person ruined that day. The wedding dress is hidden from the male and is supposed to be a surprise to him. The value of the wedding ring defines the amount of love that the bride has for the groom (Rickman, Mead, and Gorer 85). After death, Russians wash the body and dresses it into expensive clothes. The death of the elderly is very sorrowful, and they are treated with respect on

When Friend Forgets to Pay Back Loans Personal Statement

When Friend Forgets to Pay Back Loans - Personal Statement Example This is true, and such situations need to be handled with care. If a friend of mine does not repay the loan, I will have no option but to confront him in a peaceful and amicable manner. Firstly, I would arrange for the both of us to have an open talk. A friendly and confiding talk can bridge the gap that the unpaid loan has brought in. Next, I would ask him for the reason that had prevented him form keeping up his word. I shall help him take me into confidence and confide in me about his position or circumstance. By treating him with courtesy and not intending to spoil our friendship, I would also talk to him openly about my dilemma. The fact that I am in a financial crunch and in bad need of the sum would be explained to him in a very amicable manner. Next, I would go no to tell him that if not for this crunch, I wouldn't have been hell-bent and too strict with the dates of repayment. I would politely but strictly tell him to repay it within a week at the maximum.

Islamism in Nubia and Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamism in Nubia and Egypt - Essay Example The arrival of the Arab Muslims into the Christian Country of Egypt began the call to Islam. They penetrated the country to restrain it and bring it under their dominion. Their arrival sparked off the process of Islamization in Egypt. Although throughout the history of Egypt the conversion to Islam was quite gradual but a steady trickle of Copts converting to Islam was inevitable. At some points, this trickle distended to a steady or even gushing flow of new converts. The Islamisation of Egypt went through stages which were diverse in nature and occurred at different stages in its history. People in Egypt were taken by surprise when the triumph of the Muslim Brotherhood achieved a fifth parliamentary seat in the 2005 elections. Concurrent to this shock is the escalating number of attacks on Copts in the country. These two events are in fact connected and should be viewed as a natural consequence of persistent efforts over the past few decades to Islamise the country. Egypt's system o f government that was on the threshold of collapse under a corrupt monarchy some six decades ago, nearly succumb to the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood. ... of the "Free Officers" had formerly been Brotherhood members and, as new leaders, it was apparent they had exceptional connections with the Brotherhood, but the realities of ruling soon led to differences of interests. This eventually led to the ban of the Brotherhood in 1954, and its objectives and designs had to be set aside. Nevertheless, these goals and aspirations never really died. The years of the Nasser with successes, losses, and experimentations with Arabism and socialism, those set-aside aspirations were revived with the arrival of Anwar Sadat. He commenced his rule by providing avenues to the Brotherhood and other Islamic groups. He then began what has been famously dubbed as the "Great Islamic Transformation" of Egypt. There transpired changes in the constitution to where the Principles of Islamic Shari'a were "a main source" of legislation. This was stipulated in the Second Article of his new Constitution that was promulgated in 1971. The "a" was then replaced with "the", that made Shari'a the term of reference for the entire constitution, therefore stating that all other articles will be interpreted in that sense. This was done in May of 1981. This significant change provided the official, political, and 'psychological' foundation for the Islamic transformation to advance in an unstoppable pace. "I am a Muslim president of a Muslim state." This famous slogan of Sadat was an apparent manifestation of this historical transformation. Those who have endured the most sufferings during the drastic transformation are the Copts. "I can no longer stand the insults and the spitting in my face because I don't wear hijab. I have become a stranger to my own country." This was a statement made by a young Coptic woman from Alexandria, as quoted by one of the

How to use social media to promote the business Essay

How to use social media to promote the business - Essay Example To gain important information about how social media will be applied to the marketing strategy of Tazaki Sushi restaurant, I included a question in the feedback catalogue about how the customers found out about the organization. An analysis of how competitors were using social media was also conducted based on their presence in existing social media platforms. Organizations that have successfully used social media to attract customers to their services have includes aspects such as creating fan page on Facebook, Twitting different aspects of their operations to customers, developing blogs and creating alert Google systems that give feedback on activities related the organization in different online avenues. Consequently, Tazaki Sushi restaurant should Tazaki Sushi restaurant adopt these measures to be able to improve its awareness which will translate into more customers especially since the restaurant has a reputation of offering high quality services. It is recommended that Tazaki Sushi restaurant should have regular update of its website as an important source of information for more current services offered by the organization. Increased presence in social media should also be accompanied by promotions and incentives to increase the level of activities carried out in these avenues. Tazaki Sushi is a Japanese restaurant located in Sunset area in San Francisco. The restaurant has good reputation by providing high quality service and reasonable price to its customers. Normally, repeat customers were a major source of business for the restaurant. However, the restaurant has not gained much recognition, not many people know about the restaurant except the repeat customers. Given the increased competition in the area of authentic traditional cuisine (Ebster and Guist 42), Tazaki Sushi should develop a practical solution to the

International Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Organizations - Essay Example The lack of transparency in its procedures and the tendency for some or all of the permanent five to caucus in private are cause for concern. A more serious concern is the composition of the Council. It is not reasonable to suggest that the five winners of the Second World War, with the assistance of ten additional rotating member states, comprise a representative, legitimate or authoritative voice for a UN membership of 185. While certainly it would be good to have more representation where decision-making and policy-crafting in the UN is concerned, so as to accommodate the interests of developing countries, such moves might smack of tokenism if the single biggest roadblock is removed: the veto power. Historically, the veto power has been wielded to promote the partisan interests of superpower nations. It is obsolete and should be phased out. Second, more political will is needed on this issue of human rights. When the United Nations was created in 1948 by a world still reeling from the ravages of the Second World War and intent on healing the wounds wrought by it, it was tasked to become the primary agency in defining and advancing human rights. From then on, various other agencies were created, addressing specific human rights concerns. Notable examples of this are the International Labor Organization and the UNICEF. However, despite the complex structure and wo... Two good examples are the genocide in Rwanda in the early 90's, and the current conflict and suffering of people in Darfur, Sudan. There must be a mechanism to ensure that the UN will quickly respond and intervene. 2. How relevant is the experience of the concept of Europe to contemporary problems of management in international affairs Indeed, the European model has been helpful in addressing some problems in management of international affairs. However, a predominant problem in the management of international affairs is the accommodation of diversity and pluralism that certainly cannot be addressed solely by reliance on an intrinsically homogeneous model. Even on the issue of human rights, there are conflicting paradigms. The universality of human rights has oftentimes been challenged by critics on the allegation that the Western bias is very much evident, and that the popularity of it in recent times is nothing more than the remnants of a neocolonial attitude purveyed by the crafty and bought by the undiscerning. A refutation of this was attempted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1968 through a study that demonstrated that "the profound aspirations underlying human rights correspond to concepts - the concepts of justice, an individual's integrity and dignity, fre edom from oppression and persecution, and individual participation in collective endeavors - that are encountered in all civilizations and periods." Some Islamic scholars like Safi (2000, page 1) remain unconvinced: The pragmatic arguments for the universality of human rights are problematic, because they either completely overlook the significant impact cultural

How to use social media to promote the business Essay

How to use social media to promote the business - Essay Example To gain important information about how social media will be applied to the marketing strategy of Tazaki Sushi restaurant, I included a question in the feedback catalogue about how the customers found out about the organization. An analysis of how competitors were using social media was also conducted based on their presence in existing social media platforms. Organizations that have successfully used social media to attract customers to their services have includes aspects such as creating fan page on Facebook, Twitting different aspects of their operations to customers, developing blogs and creating alert Google systems that give feedback on activities related the organization in different online avenues. Consequently, Tazaki Sushi restaurant should Tazaki Sushi restaurant adopt these measures to be able to improve its awareness which will translate into more customers especially since the restaurant has a reputation of offering high quality services. It is recommended that Tazaki Sushi restaurant should have regular update of its website as an important source of information for more current services offered by the organization. Increased presence in social media should also be accompanied by promotions and incentives to increase the level of activities carried out in these avenues. Tazaki Sushi is a Japanese restaurant located in Sunset area in San Francisco. The restaurant has good reputation by providing high quality service and reasonable price to its customers. Normally, repeat customers were a major source of business for the restaurant. However, the restaurant has not gained much recognition, not many people know about the restaurant except the repeat customers. Given the increased competition in the area of authentic traditional cuisine (Ebster and Guist 42), Tazaki Sushi should develop a practical solution to the

Medea and the Myth of Feminism Essay Example for Free

Medea and the Myth of Feminism Essay Medea the Myth of Feminism It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls it is only men who are complete human beings and can hope for ultimate fulfillment; the best a woman can hope for is to become a man (Plato 90e). Euripides Medea was written in a time where even the word feminism did not exist and yet he gave Medea a role of substance and a stature of strength. It is a wonder whether or not Euripides knew Just how much power he put into the hands of this woman as well as many more in the creation of her character. Perhaps not in his time and perhaps not y intention, but since then Medea the play and Medea the woman have filled a symbolic role in the area of feminism, the debate being for or against it. In countless cultures and streams of media, the woman stands timeless. What this paper intends to explore is the levels of the performance and how they stack up to the idea of feminism by framing Euripides possible intent, understanding various audience response to various productions, and finally studying Medea herself to see whether her roots of vengeance are in feminism or rather immorality. At the beginning of our quest we find the author, alive at a time in which ancient Greece was overwhelmingly patriarchal, but where did Euripides find himself? Is it possible to suspect that he may have allied himself among other voices which held sympathy for the plight of women? Could he have been the model of a proto-feminist or was he a misogynist? In either case, Medea seems to be the place to look. While pursuing her ambition, Medea disregards many of the feminine characteristics of the patriarchal Greek society. She questions the inequality of women, contradicts Jasons chauvinist beliefs, challenges the stereotype that women are weak and passive and ltimately completely disregards the feminine role of motherhood. Euripides portrays a woman who completely subverts feminine norms, overcomes masculine bonds and, given that his depiction of Medea was highly influential and replicated to some extent by most later authors, the Medea viewed as a figure of feminine power in modernity is at least in part dependent on Euripides (Mastronarde 52). Honing in on the text, one might examine Medeas opening speech, a fine feminist harangue (Hadas 81), showing that, Medea has been treated unjustly by men, and her eloquent indictment of womens lot is never denied (Foley 265). This speech is the first introduction to Medea as a strong and independent woman, but the words are not hers alone. These lines have sometimes been seen as Euripides bitter reflections on his own isolation as an advanced and intellectual poet. There is much truth in this view, but the lines are also Medeas, the complaint of a woman of great intellectual capacity who finds herself excluded from the spheres of power and action (Knox 314). It is this exclusion that leads her to the inexcusable action of killing her children, or is it so inexcusable? When focusing on Euripides intent one might see that: Euripides made Medea herselt choose to murder ner chi Idren as the hurtful part of her revenge against Jason. It perhaps sounds at first as if this might tell in favor of the idea that Euripides was hostile to women. But in fact it turns out to have quite the opposite result, because of the way Euripides treats his material Euripides has created this new Medea who chooses to kill her own children. He condemnation the murderous deed: shows us with painful insight and utterly without mind of the woman who has the ability to do such a the torment before the final decision, the ultimate grief, and, here in he final scene, the inevitable results. Medea is now finally untouched, untouchable by human hands and by human emotions (March 35-36; 43). By this evidence it would appear that Euripides has molded a woman for women. Unfortunately, while the presentation of this piece could certainly cause a discomfort among male audience members, it equally might encourage greater suspicion and scorn by males of females. Euripides Medea questioned prevailing norms and beliefs, primarily those of the heroic masculine ethic, though perhaps at the expense of women, and not in their support. The meaning of Euripides words cannot be eciphered simply by picking and choosing sections of the play to analyze. To understand his intent there is the need to understand the totality of the narrative as well as the audience he wrote for. Playing to a primarily male audience, Euripides does not introduce Medea immediately but has the chorus and nurse tell of her first, giving the audience a misconception of Just how much power the woman holds. In fact supported by Medeas cries of anguish heard offstage she is first represented as emotional and submissive. By Euripides authorial intent, he lulls the audience into a state of pity here there should be fear. Skillfully contrived is the choral passage in which we first hear the agonized voice of Medea from offstage. If we had been prepared to see a woman of monstrous power and witchery, a being of preternatural passion and resource, we are deceived (Musurillo 54). Medea is first painted as nothing other than what you would expect of a woman, a merit of pity though not empathy, however when first seen she shifts to reasonable and calculating. Returning to analyis of her first speech, one can more deeply apply what she is saying to her situation. Her eloquent first speech on the wrongs of women deceptively applies only in part to herself. For Medea is far from the passive victim of marriage and masculine brutality that she claims to be (McDermott 259). Within the world of the play Medeas deception makes sense in winning the approval of the chorus, however to spectators the mismatch of her words to her situation carries a different meaning. It paints a new picture and a new woman who is willing to exaggerate and lie in order to achieve her goals. It becomes clearer as the play progresses that Euripides initial ortrayal of Medea serves as a baseboard for growth from helpless to dangerous, parallel to the audience reaction as it stems from pity to loathing. An ancient Athenian audience would have found little to no fault in Jasons actions, by a public standard, Jason satisfied his marital obligation toward Medea and returned favor for favor by bringing her to Greece (Walsh 295). This leaves it to Medeas character to be the cause of any unsettlement. Her ultimate action of killing her children, makes her most territying, tor sne is not a victim and not vulnerable†that is, not teminine†yet he has been identified as and with other women (Rabinowitz 132). With this information, only fear is struck by Medea in the name of women. Regardless of Euripides intent, proto-feminist, misogynist, or most likely of all neither, his audience rests at the wrathful hands of a powerful woman, but empathy is unlikely. It is important however, to take into account various audiences beyond simply that of Euripides time. A present audience interprets a performance of Medea much differently than ancient Greeks would have and there are countless Medea inspired adaptations which ancient Greeks never had the chance to experience. It is these productions and these audiences that are next to be studied on the road to feminism. To approach from another end of the spectrum, a drastically different style of performance than that of western culture may be studied. Carol Sorgenfrei provides this with her 1975 work, Medea: A Noh Cycle Based on the Greek Myth. Noh theatre, like many traditional Japanese theatre forms, prioritizes stylization above realism in performance, a practice that aligns well with a myth of murder and revenge. The stylization draws away from the brutal acts, allowing the audience a chance to accept Medea for her motives instead of unquestionably condemning her. By adhering to the structure of Noh, Sorgenfrei creates a world where time, place, and gender are transcended in favor of larger-than-life emotions and issues (Edelson 1). It is also worthy of note to state that Noh theatre is an all-male performance style (as it would have been in ancient Greece as well). One might take it upon themselves to understand by this knowledge that the theatre form is inherently sexist, yet, since the 1960 s, theater practitioners have drawn on these traditional forms to rediscover feminine and feminist messages (2). Furthermore the stylization and art that go into the intricacies of embodying a female are no Joke within the ritualistic practice. As denoted in the title, Sorgenfreis piece is a cycle play referring to the five different plays that would be performed in a traditional Noh performance. These plays are thematically based, in the order of God, Warrior, Woman, Frenzy, and Demon. Drawing inspiration from Noh style, Sorgenfreis Medea, develops the Medea myth through her plays five scenes, which progress through the different traditional categories despite the thematic linkage (2). As for the audience of this particular performance, it is no surprise that not only is it drastically different than that of Euripides and ancient Greece but also vastly different than that of Zeamis and the fifteenth century (the roots of Noh theatre). Sorgenfrei writes very consciously for a feminist audience in 1975. This retelling of the Medea myth from a female point of view in a beautifully feminine style of Japanese theatre, despite its male performance history, allocates the piece among cultural feminism, praising what is feminine while still acknowledging the differences among men and women. Feminine, however, is not the same as feminist. For that title we might analyze Medea in the fourth scene, the frenzy play, where Medea gives birth to herself as the Sun God. In one sense, the birth metaphor is emblematic of the mother/daughter bond, but its glorification of motherhood also implies that a womans self-fulfillment can best be attained by fulfilling her biological capabilities (Dolan 30). Seeing as Medea is a mother to herself though, it would appear that Sorgenfreis intent is that, birth is a metaphor tor revealing ones true selt, becoming oneselt, independent ot a partner or arents. Not only does Sorgenfreis Medea serve as the antithesis to the glorification of motherhood, but she also subverts the concept of birth as something that can be successfully and independently accomplished without the aid of man (Edelson 6). If this transformation is not convincing enough, then the transformation of Jasons character in the final demon play certainly thrusts the play into feminism. At this point in the cycle play Jason and the children reveal themselves as demons and, by displacing Medea and focusing solely on Jasons (and the childrens) transformation n Demon Play, Sorgenfrei forces the viewer to explore the cause of Medeas suffering instead of only investigating the effect of her actions (7). The audience, throughout Sorgenfreis production, due to the stylization of noh performance as well as the cycle transformations, is able to question Medeas past and her motives instead of assuming the worst from the start. Sorgenfreis as well as many other variations of Medeas tale open the doors to inquiry for viewers. As performances vary, so does the message of femininity, but it really comes down to the character herself and the motivation behind her actions. If her strength is solely for the sake of revenge then women lose merit, however if she acts in defiance to a patriarchal society she is a voice for feminism. In studying the woman we might discover hints as to whether or not she, as a character, is a feminist. The obvious first argument is that feminism is not an option for Medea as a character. The time period in which she is set in the play and in which her character was created do not allow such a term. However, for the sake of this paper and staying true to the idea that characters never die, it is now assumed that she is still alive oday and thus feminism exists. Now, to discover whether Medea is a feminist or not it seems vital to set aside any notions of her being simply a victim of patriarchy. To see her only as such is to exclude very important aspects of her character which tie her to humanity. It is her darkness that is relatable and takes her beyond a pitiable subject to be observed. It is the independence throughout her struggles that makes her more than two dimensions. Medea is a compelling character. Through plays, films, operas, paintings and novels, we have heard her story told again and again and e remain fascinated by her. Our fascination is not without reason, for Medea brings us face to face with darkness that lurks within anyone and catastrophe that can befall any marriage. We watch and listen to her because she speaks to us of ourselves (Fuller 3). Her story is not uncommon, the betrayal of a spouse and the desire for revenge. This theme can be found reinterpreted within films such as War of the Roses and The First Wives Club. Both embody the spirit of Medea, the story of a woman who gives up everything for a man only to be left for a younger woman. So it s seen that the character lives and changes as time passes. What these film adaptations lack is the darkness that individualizes Medea and the accumulation of this darkness to the point of murdering her children. However, this theme too may be found in literature such as La Llarona and even in history such as the Andrea Yates trial. Its clear that Medea, even in her darkness, is an influence to art and to life, but another question rises in this darkness. By throwing her maternal nature aside does she also discredit the female race or does the strength it takes to murder ones own hildren become commendable? Motive is the question at hand and Medea does nerselt no tavors at tirst glance . The decision to murder ner children in return tor the joy she will receive in witnessing Jasons anguish gives Medea little respectability. It is precisely at this point, where rage and pain and revenge come together, that Medea creates a problem for feminism (5). She flaunts her immorality, showing no remorse whatsoever for her actions. While it is admirable of a woman to overcome her situation, Medeas display of heartlessness after the fact of murdering her hildren leaves her alone, independent, and selfish. On the other hand it is so difficult to grasp the understanding of killing a child and the action is so inconsistent with Medeas prior feminism. Her original revenge was upon Creon, Jason, and his bride. It is reasonable to consider based off this knowledge that Medeas hand was moved by the authorial intent of Euripides rather than by her own will. Perhaps this was essential though, perhaps with a loss of darkness comes a loss of complexity and then what need would there be to discover why this troubled woman acted as she did. There would be no question of her feminist nature because there would be no care. A last note on Medea herself, she is not human, at least not fully. She is a mythical creature who by the end of the tale is taken into the sky by a chariot. So, take into account the action that takes place within other greek myths, birth from Zeus thigh, rape by Zeus in the form of a swan (among other animals). By these mythological standards is child murder something that can be Judged by mankind? By keeping in mind that Medea has a part of the divine within her, her actions become less of an atrocity and more of a symbol. Seen in this light, that Medeas are not the acts of a literal person but rather are symbolic, the child murders then become more understandable (11). Her children too then become a symbol of her marriage which is destroyed and thus the children must be destroyed. Seldom do women, let alone feminists, act out so much as to murder their children over the betrayal of their husbands, but divorces and custody battles do not stray too far from it. Medeas actions, when taken literally, may be unforgivable by a feminist society, but symbolically she hits right on target. Children become the battleground for the arents rage and disappointment and most often they are the collateral damage in the marital wars (13). Medea lives on, struggles on with a voice unafraid to speak out against the wrongs done to her. This is the voice that feminists cling to while they avoid acknowledgement of the rash action of murder. When it comes down to it though, Medea is studied because she is relatable, darkness and all. In order for a woman to know herself, she must come to terms with her own capacity for darkness, rage, and power and this is what Medea has to offer. There has yet to be an adaptation in hich she experiences the same pain and anger without the result of destruction, but maybe that is the standing lesson. Medea continues to struggle because women continue to struggle and as women evolve so shall she as she has before. In order to stand for women, it is not essential to be a model woman, only to continue on in the struggle, to continue fighting, and so she does.

Becoming A Reflective Supervisor And Counsellor Nursing Essay

Becoming A Reflective Supervisor And Counsellor Nursing Essay This essay is a reflective journey into the process of supervision. What supervision actually entails and how to use the process to begin the life mission of becoming a professional counsellor. What it means to become a truly self-reflective practitioner who is mindful and open to learning about ones self in addition to continuing the process of deepening the theoretical knowledge of which supervision can be ones most useful tool. First and foremost being a student counsellor in the mode of Peron-Centred counselling, the key component would have to relate to first taking a personal journey of discovery through reflection to become aware of self in the process of actualisation. Corey (2009) cites Rogers who believed that people where essentially an expert on their own lives and that if the therapist was to become a conduit for empathy, respect, and authenticity, then they too would benefit from experiencing self through the process of reflection and exploration. Only then could the therapist model the behaviour for which the client could perceive possible for themselves. Corey (2009) also cites Broadley as describing actualizing tendency as a directional process of striving towards realisation, fulfilment, autonomy, self-determination, and perfection (p169). For me self-reflection and exploration is the only way to realise self actualisation, for without having an internal conversation how would one expect to g row as an individual let alone as a counsellor. In addition, as a student a vital tool in self-reflection is the process of supervision, through which the sharing of experiences gained through placement can be an opening to not only improving the use of skills, but additionally a tool to develop mindfulness, and self-awareness. Since starting my volunteering I have applied these concepts to the best of my abilities, and through daily reflection I have been able to recognise the learning goals that I would like to focus on during my first placement. When asked to summarise my learning goals I then had to consider theoretically how learning goals can aid the student to not only reflect on their needs and experiences, but also to refine what a professional counsellor requires to develop and progress. Cleak and Wilson (2004) who cite Rogers and Langevin as suggesting that a learning agreement contain elements of being, knowing, doing and thinking in order to make the most of the placement and the supervisory experience. Cleak and Wilson (2004) also suggest that there are seven core learning areas which can be incorporated into the learning contract. Such as, values and ethics, processes combined with skills and relationships, how to use knowledge, self-learning and professional development, understanding the organisational context, awareness of the necessity for research, and finally acknowledging social policy within the placement experience. Learning goals are also important from the supervisors perspective as Brockbank and McGil l (2007) discuss awareness of the supervision relationship can benefit both the supervisee and the supervisor when learning goals are clearly defined and aid supervision to function as a supportive and productive process. This also includes the supervisee being aware of their learning styles for example whether learning has a preference towards perhaps cognitive rather than experiential. I therefore summarise the key learning goals I have identified for my first placement experience as follows. My learning goals begin with honing my use of the core counselling skills of active listening, accurate empathic reflection, authenticity, and presence, through the process of feedback and reflection. Secondly I have identified that I need to work on the appropriate use of rapport and the use of disclosure, through understanding how to establish boundaries and use deflecting techniques when the issue of inappropriate disclosure is exhibited. Third I feel that understanding how the organisatio nal procedures such as keeping confidential client notes functions around my responsibility to upkeep the records to meet my ethical requirements. This is also a process of learning to work within the organisational teams that work in a paradox of isolation and conjunction, to bring together the experience and knowledge of administration, support staff, nurses, other professionals including my department of pastoral care and counselling. Fourth is the learning involved with bringing art and music into the person-centred style of counselling I have been taught to use. This includes bringing in the theoretical knowledge of my supervisors to help facilitate a deeper understanding of combining skills and theories. Finally to bring it all together is the practice and development of self-reflection and self-awareness including being mindful. This final task is probably the most important of all since it requires me to open myself to self-reflection in addition to positive and negative fee dback from my clients, my colleagues, and both of my supervisors. Here is where keeping a personal journal of my inner journey through placement is of vital importance if I am serious about being in the process of self actualising and developing as a professional counsellor. Self reflection is possibly the most important process of awaking awareness and aiding the development of a counsellor who is confident, centred, ethical, and professional. Developing self awareness and mindfulness through self reflection should not be underestimated due to the fact that an open relationship with ones self is conceivably the preeminent way to grow not only as an individual, but also as a counsellor. During my placement as well as for the entirety of my professional life the reflective practices I intend to use include daily self-reflection daily and consciously practicing mindfulness. Germer (2005) suggests being mindful is usually not a common reality in our thinking processes, as being mindful takes practice to comfortably stay present and focused on the mome nt. Mindfulness as Germer reminds us is a Buddhist concept dating back some two thousand years, which Buddhists term sati that translates as awareness, attention and remembering. Germer (2005) also cites Hanh as describing mindfulness as an in the moment awareness of our consciousness processing everything that is happening around us, to us and between us, a being focused on the here and now and totally present. Germer (2005) also suggests that one can learn and develop mindfulness through meditation, relaxation and practice of focusing and clearing ones mind. Through mindfulness the process of self-reflection can truly begin especially with the aid of meditation allowing one to focus on the difference between emotion, thoughts and feelings, as well as perceptions in order to replay experiences and perceive self in action. Fook and Gardner (2007) suggest reflection is a process whereby the student identifies how their sense of self plays out through the window of personal perception s, with particular emphasis on how emotions influence decisions. Realising the difference in how relationships play out against theoretical knowledge, and recognising how self can get in the way, begins the process of being able to differentiate between the needs of the student and the needs of the client. These realisations also contain an understanding that becoming a professional means accepting that often what happens in real life counselling is unpredictable, and that that is okay. In addition to journaling I intend to religiously maintain my daily debriefing with my organisational supervisor to constantly balance my perceptions of client interactions both emotional and intellectual. Furthermore feedback from my clinical supervisor will be essential in determining how to interpret my reflective journal in a process that can focus self actualising. Orchowski, Evangelista, Probst (2010) discuss how supervision can be a process of understanding how reflection can impart an unders tanding to enable a safe client student relationship. In addition self reflection enhances ones ability to activate mindfulness when in session with a client, as well as in the process of supervision. Self awareness, reflection and being mindful are all fundamental thought processes that help guard against unethical decision making, and establish a way of ensuring safety for both the therapist and the client. Orchowski, Evangelista, Probst further discuss how reflection can be part of the contract between supervisor and supervisee bring about an openness to the process of revisiting the client experience for the supervisee, and exploring what came up emotionally for the supervisee. Which brings up the importance of supervision in the reflection process as I have discovered already, without a supervisor to clarify perceptions lack of confidence and inexperience could easily lead to an unproductive negative interpretation. After spending the last eleven weeks as a volunteer and really having begun the process of placement, I can truly see the importance of supervision in the process of reflection. During the time spent within the organisation I have begun the process of building a relationship with my placement supervisor, with whom I confer about my use of skills, how my clients are reacting, in addition to drawing on her wealth of professional knowledge, and her years of client contact and their histories. Each day contains a component where we debrief and self-care around how to maintain boundaries and identify where emotions can blur person perception, particularly considering that when working in aged care where clients often die or experience the process of illness or severe loss. Jochen (2008) talks about how supervisees often begin the learning process of supervision by being wrapped up in the clients story, and emotions. However, as time and self awareness of the process begin a process of understanding and acknowledging that even though the clients story may be as confronting as severe illness which may bring imminent death, the counsellors role is to support and empathise not attach personal meaning to the emotional content being presented. Hawkins and Shohet (2007) discuss that the use of supervision become a fundamental tool that any counsellor or health professional makes use of regularly, to aid in the understanding ones emotional configuration regarding professional progress and maintenance. Hawkins and Shohet also suggest that supervision is a necessity in the helping professions, to ensure client safety is always upheld, through the constant self-reflection that supervision aims to provide the practicing counsellor. Considering that supervision is going to play an important role not only during placement but feasibly for the entirety of my counselling career, it would be prudent to consider what challenges supervision may bring. First and foremost is overcoming the fear of being vulnerable and exposed to criticism, in addition to having personal values and beliefs put under scrutiny, not to mention experiencing another professional judge your ability to effectively master the basic counselling skills, all on top of exposing your self-reflective thoughts and emotions to for all purposes an external voice of conscious. Tjeltveit and Gottlieb (2010) discuss the ethical role vulnerability and resilience play in keeping the therapist safe, in particular the student. Our vulnerabilities can expose themselves in our unconscious reactions through our values, beliefs, cultural identities, even habits and emotions that even with awareness impart unethical decisions or actions. Tjeltveit and Gottlieb go on to argue that resilience is strengthened by the student becoming aware of their vulnerabilities, addressing emotional issues, and becoming open to parts of their personality which could influence unethical decisions. These issues of interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions are so important we can often overlook procedural problems and challenges that can also occur that could in fact hinder completion of the placement in academic terms. For example I discovered that my placement supervisor would not meet the clinical requirements that ACAP (2010) base their requirements upon. Acap (2010) have recommended that if a student wishes to be able to join The Counselling and Psychotherapists Association of NSW Inc [CAPA] (2009) one must have clinical supervision that complies with CAPAs training standards, which state that the clinical supervisor must have completed at least seven hundred and fifty hours of personal supervision post training. In addition they must also meet the Psychot herapy Counselling Federation of Australia [PACFA] (2009) requirements stated in article 4.3.1, that a supervisors credentials are to be of a level beyond basic counselling and include eligibility to be a clinical member of a counselling association for at least three years (p7). Therefore after having succeeded in acquiring a clinical supervisor I now have to apply the above mentioned challenges in two different scenarios, with two different people, in two different organisations. To conclude I believe the importance of self-reflection cannot be expressed too often, to widely, or too deeply. The concept of supervision